Author Archives: Paul Franssen

King Lear, translated and directed by Jack Nieborg, Shakespeare Theater Diever, The Netherlands, 8 September 2018. Reviewed by by Paul Franssen (Utrecht University) This year, the Diever amateur theatre had chosen King Lear for their annual production. In line with some other recent stage adaptations of Shakespeare plays, the tragedy was set in the world of […]

King Lear, Het Zuidelijk Toneel and het Paleis, directed by Simon de Vos. Utrecht, Stadsschouwburg, 2 February 2018. Review by Paul Franssen (Utrecht University) Like other recent Shakespeare adaptations in the Low Countries, such as Tom Lanoye’s Queen Lear and his Hamlet vs. Hamlet, this production treated the original very freely, changing many features to […]

Julius Caesar, dir. Michiel de Regt. Performance: Orkater. Music: K.O. Brass! Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam, 2 December 2017. Reviewed by Paul Franssen (Utrecht University). Like many productions of Julius Caesar nowadays, Orkater’s staging transposed the action to the modern age. No togas, therefore, but modern dress, and modern instruments too: for this production replaced much of the […]

Hamlet. Abbatoir Fermé. Stadsschouwburg Utrecht, 5 November 2017 Reviewed by Paul Franssen (Utrecht University) Among the first intelligible words that Hamlet utters in this production is his speech on man, the “paragon of animals,” which yet “delights not [him].” Hamlet’s doubts about human nature seem to be confirmed throughout, more than the more optimistic view […]

The Taming of the Shrew, translated and directed by Jack Nieborg, Shakespeare Theater Diever, The Netherlands, 26 August 2017. Reviewed by Paul Franssen, Utrecht University The annual open-air Shakespeare production at Diever, staged by amateurs, seems to be drawing bigger crowds every year. This year’s production of The Taming of the Shrew makes it clear why: […]

Lady M, written by Annechien Koerselman, Annemarie de Bruijn, David Geysen and Radna Diels. English translation by Marlous Lang-Peterse. Performance by Annemarie de Bruijn, het Vijfde Bedrijf. Koninklijke Schouwburg, The Hague, 26 November 2016 Review by Paul Franssen (Utrecht University) The sound of bagpipes evokes a sense of place. A young woman, with […]

Richard III, translated and directed by Jack Nieborg, Shakespeare Theater Diever, The Netherlands, 3 September 2016 Reviewed by Paul Franssen (Utrecht University) This year, the venerable Diever Shakespeare festival celebrated its 70th anniversary. Ever since the Second World War, this village in the North of the Netherlands has staged a Shakespeare production during the summer […]

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, dir. Theu Boermans, Het Nationale Toneel, Koninklijke Schouwburg The Hague, The Netherlands, 20 August 2016. Review by Paul Franssen (Utrecht University) One usually imagines the fairies in Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream as diminutive creatures, small enough to “hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear” (2.1.15). The Victorians saw them as childlike. […]

Amaluna. Cirque du Soleil. Amsterdam, 9 April 2016. Review by Paul Franssen (Utrecht University) Shakespeare and circus may seem to belong to two diametrically opposite sides of the cultural spectrum: the elitist reputation of the dramatist’s work might seem to preclude any meaningful connection with the more democratic spirit of the circus, which speaks […]